Lucy Visits Grauman's
Previous episode: The Tour Next episode: Lucy and John Wayne http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/LanaLipstick.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/StealingFootprints.jpg http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/ABMfisher/CementFoot.jpg Plot Lucy and the Mertzes plan a little end-of-the-movie congratulatory party for Ricky. While toasting his punch, Ricky says that Hollywood's been great, but it'll be nice to return home to New York. The Mertzes and Lucy are shocked. They don't want to leave California yet! There's so much that they still haven't done, and Lucy is still on the "ultimate souvenir" hunt. Ricky allows one more week in Hollywood, but no more, because the studio isn't financing the trip anymore. It all has to come out of Ricky's pocket now. One of the things on Lucy's to-do list is visiting Grauman's Chinese Theater to see the famous footprints in the courtyard. While looking at all the different stars' footprints, Lucy notices that John Wayne's cement slab is loose. What better than John Wayne's footprints for an ultimate souvenir! Lucy and Ethel plan to come back late at night to steal the footprints. In the middle of the night, Lucy and Ethel return to Grauman's with a crowbar and a bucket of cement to fill in the soon-to-be empty hole. Fred caught on to their plan, and he follows them, trying to talk some sense into the women. When they hear policemen coming by, the three jump and hide in the bushes. Lucy accidentally stumbles and gets her right leg stuck in the bucket of cement. But even with all these setbacks, Lucy and Ethel end up successfully freeing John Wayne's footprints and carrying them home to the Beverly Palms Hotel. Ricky wakes up and notices Lucy is gone. He calls over to the Mertzes' suite and finds out she's over there. He goes to the Mertzes' suite to find out what's going on. All three pretend to be sleeping, and Lucy hides her bucket leg with a blanket. Ricky demands to know why Lucy's not in her own bed. Lucy says that she had trouble sleeping, so she tried dozing at the Mertzes'. Ricky picks her up to carry her to their suite, and he is shocked by how heavy Lucy is. He then discovers her cement encased foot. After freeing Lucy from the cement, the truth comes out. Ricky demands that they return the footprints, threatening to take them all home the very next day if they don't agree. So, the trio trudge back to Grauman's Chinese Theater. When they return, things aren't good. When somebody was coming, the trio got nervous and dropped the footprints, which ended up breaking into a million tiny pieces. What's worse is that Lucy got her bottom stuck in a cement bucket this time. Trivia *We get to see Lucy and the Mertzes' prized souvenir collection. Highlights include Lucy's Robert Taylor-autographed orange, Lucy's Richard Widmark-autographed grapefruit, Fred's beloved hankerchief with Lana Turner's lipstick print on it, a tin can that was crushed by Cary Grant's left rear wheel, menus from the Brown Derby, matchbooks from Ciro's, ashtrays from the Beverly Hilton, and chopsticks from the Beachcomber. (Interestingly, Lucy's prized autographed produce aren't shown in the syndicated version of the show.) *Fred specifically says in this episode that he has yet to see Ava Gardner, so this is definitive proof that he didn't catch a glimpse of her at the Brown Derby. *This is the first episode to be written by new writers Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf, who joined the cast in season 5. As a season premiere, this episode wasn't all that well-received, and critics disliked the overall script, saying that the episode was only good because of Lucille Ball's many ad-libs. What the critics didn't know is that there weren't any ad-libs at all, and that all of the clever gags were SO well-written by the two new Bobs that the dialogue seemed effortless and unscripted. *Besides John Wayne's, the footprints we know the gang checked out at Grauman's belonged to Gloria Swanson, Harold Lloyd, Tyrone Power, Betty Grable (her leg, too), Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, and Trigger the horse. Lucy's feet are smaller than Joan Crawford's, and Fred's feet are smaller than Gary Cooper's. *Ethel's hilarious line about not being able to look at Fred and smile at the same time also was cut out of the syndicated version. *To get rid of John Wayne-seeking tourists at Grauman's Chinese Theater when time comes to steal the footprints, Lucy says that she and Ethel are sitting on Bill Holden's footprints, and that Ethel is President of the Bill Holden Fan Club. *Starting with this episode, Irma Kusely takes over for Bert French as Lucy's hairstylist on the show. Previously, Kusely had only done Lucy's hair while she was pregnant, back in season 2. She will do Lucy's hair for years to come. *In real life, if Lucy had dropped the cement slab on her fingers, the bones in her hands would have been smashed and broken to pieces. But all Lucy suffered from was sore hands, no injury. Similarly, The Lucy Book author Geoffrey Mark Fidelman notes that, if Lucy's cement-covered foot had dangled off her couch in the Mertzes' suite the way it did, her foot would have come off. The "cement" was really mostly Styrofoam. Some hard material was added that Desi could chip away at with the hammer. Quotes *Fred: $5 for a jar of fish eggs?! *Fred: (reading cake) "Marlon"? Ethel: Marlon Brando. Do you know anyone else named Marlon? Fred: Sure- Monroe! *Ethel: Now, Fred, no sneak previews. Fred: Well, you'd think I could have one bite. After all, my life savings are tied up in those hors d'oeuvres! *Fred: (singing) I bought the caviar! *Ricky: I guess Brando and I DO have a lot in common. Fred: Yeah, I can't understand either of you when you talk! *Lucy: When will we leave New York? Ricky: Just as soon as you can get ready. How long will it take you? Lucy: Six years! *Lucy: "Junk"?! Do you call an orange autographed by Robert Taylor "junk"? Ricky: Look at this old, dried-up thin'! You can't even read his name! The letters are all shriveled together! *Lucy: Just a minute! That is not an ORDINARY old tin can! This just happens to be an old tin can that was squashed by Cary Grant's left rear wheel. *Lucy: What'll we see first? Ethel: I vote for Catalina. Fred: I vote for Catalina. Lucy: I vote for Grauman's Chinese. Ethel: We got the majority. Lucy; I got the car! *Fred: (ready to take picture) Come on and look at me and smile, Ethel! Ethel: Make up your mind- I can't do both! *Ethel: What are you doing? Lucy: Comparing my leg to Betty Grable's. Ethel: Oh, it looks identical! Lucy: Oh! Well, to you and me maybe, but I doubt if it would fool Harry James! *Fred: Oh, here's one of footprints for you to try fit into, Ethel- Trigger! *Lucy: I'm gonna take home a souvenir to end all souvenirs- John Wayne's block! Ethel: Well, you'll need it, 'cause, when Ricky finds out what you've done, he'll knock yours OFF! *Ethel: Lucy, you're a natural-born crook. Lucy: Thank you, ma'am! *Lucy: Now, is there anything else we'll need steal the footprints? Fred: Yeah, a good lawyer! *Lucy: I may go home without any fingers, but I'm not going home empty-handed! *Lucy: Well, at least you can get away from Ricky. I have to stay here and take it. I'm like a sitting cement duck! *Lucy: What are we gonna do? Fred: I don't know, but I'd hate to be the next shoeclerk who waits on you of that bucket! *Ricky: Alright, let's have the story. Lucy: Story? What makes you think there's a story? *Lucy: You see, I have this foot condition. It's sort of a hardening of the arches. *Lucy: Well, I can't think with all this cement wrapped around my foot! Ricky: Oh, is that where your brains are? *Lucy: Well, I'll tell you what happened. Fred: Well, before you do, I'd better take this from Ricky! *Ethel: What's he sayin' Spanish? Lucy: I don't know, but I have a feeling it isn, "Hot diggity! Just what I've always wanted!" *Lucy: We'll take it back where it belongs, dear. Ricky: That's better. Lucy: Right under my bed!﻿